UGB Chapter 78, Fifth Branch
Chapter 78, Fifth Branch
The day after the Internet of Things branch was activated, Zuo Cheng arrived at the company early.
He needs time to digest the newly acquired technological capabilities. Distributed sensor collaboration is just one of seven blades; the other six—IoT communication protocols, low-power wide-area networks, embedded systems, edge computing gateways, smart sensor networks, and IoT security—each represent a completely new technological field.
He sat in his office, opened his notebook, listed the capabilities of the seven blades one by one, and then drew a technology roadmap.
The core of Sky Dome Phase III is a signal processing platform for 100,000 terminals, which is the foundation of 402. However, the Internet of Things (IoT) opens up a market in another dimension. Sensor networks can cover smart cities, industrial IoT, agricultural monitoring, and other scenarios; edge computing gateways can bring computing power down from the cloud to the terminal; and IoT security is the fundamental guarantee for all applications.
If we compare telecommunications engineering to a highway, then the Internet of Things (IoT) is a service network laid along that highway. As cars travel on the road, the service network provides refueling, maintenance, and navigation. Only when both are combined can a complete ecosystem be built.
Zuo Cheng closed his laptop and walked out of the office.
In the work area, Chen Hao was debugging the simulation system for the third phase of Sky Dome, Zhang Lei was organizing hardware test reports, and Ma Hao was frowning at the algorithm model on the screen. Everyone was busy, but Zuo Cheng knew that the development of the third phase of Sky Dome did not require all the manpower; some people could be spared to do preliminary research in the direction of the Internet of Things.
"Everyone, stop for a moment and have a short meeting." Zuo Cheng clapped his hands.
Five minutes later, seven people were sitting in the conference room: Zuo Cheng, Chen Hao, Zhang Lei, Ma Hao, Han Lu, and two recently recruited engineers.
"Two things." Zuo Cheng stood in front of the whiteboard. "First, the contract for the third phase of Sky Dome has been signed, and the initial payment of 3600 million will arrive at the end of the month. Starting today, the third phase of Sky Dome officially enters the development stage. Chen Hao, you will continue to be in charge of the overall architecture, and Zhang Lei will be in charge of the hardware platform."
"Received." The two nodded.
"The second thing," Zuo Cheng wrote on the whiteboard, "Internet of Things (IoT)," adding, "402 is going to start working on IoT."
The meeting room fell silent for a second.
"The Internet of Things?" Chen Hao adjusted his glasses. "Brother Cheng, isn't our core business satellite communications?"
"Satellite communications are our core business, but we can't just rely on that," Zuo Cheng said. "Once the third phase of Sky Dome is completed, 402's position in the satellite communications field will be secure. But satellite communications is project-based; after completing one project, we have to find the next. The Internet of Things is different; it's platform-based, and once it's developed, it can generate continuous revenue."
He drew a simple architecture diagram: "The Internet of Things (IoT) and satellite communication are not two separate lines, but rather they intersect. The Sky Dome system itself is a massive IoT network; 100,000 terminals constitute a 100,000-node IoT network. The technology we've accumulated with Sky Dome can be directly transferred to the IoT field."
Looking at the architecture diagram on the whiteboard, Ma Hao seemed to be deep in thought: "I can be responsible for a portion of the IoT algorithm module. The collection and processing of sensor data has similarities to the adaptive coding and modulation I did before."
Zuo Cheng glanced at him. Ma Hao's volunteering showed that he had begun to consider himself a member of 402, no longer the cautious newcomer he had been when he first arrived.
"Okay, the IoT algorithm module is yours," Zuo Cheng said. "Let's start with the compression and transmission of sensor data, and build the underlying algorithm framework."
"No problem." Ma Hao's eyes shone brightly.
Han Lu raised her hand: "President Zuo, how do we enter the market in the field of the Internet of Things? Smart cities? Industrial IoT? Or consumer-grade?"
"Let's start with smart cities," Zuo Cheng said. "There are three reasons: First, government projects are large-scale, with one project equivalent to dozens of consumer-level projects; second, government projects have high technical requirements and high barriers to entry, resulting in fewer competitors; third, there is overlap in customer groups with the Sky Dome project, and Blue Bay Communications has a strong channel in the government market."
Han Lu nodded and noted it down.
The meeting lasted forty minutes. When it adjourned, Zuo Cheng kept Ma Hao behind alone.
"I'm glad you volunteered to work on IoT algorithms," Zuo Cheng said. "But I have a question for you."
"Please speak, Mr. Zuo."
"What else did you do besides chip design during your two years in Shenzhen?"
Ma Hao remained silent for a few seconds.
"Machine learning," he said. "While in Shenzhen, I taught myself deep learning and reinforcement learning, and I also participated in a project on an autonomous driving perception algorithm."
Zuo Cheng's heart skipped a beat. Deep learning and reinforcement learning—aren't these the foundational technologies of AI? Ma Hao actually had this background; he hadn't revealed it at all before.
"Why wasn't this mentioned before?"
"Because I didn't think 402 needed AI," Ma Hao said. "But today you said you're going to do IoT, and I suddenly feel that IoT plus AI might be the direction 402 really needs. The massive amounts of data collected by sensors simply can't be processed without AI."
Zuo Cheng looked at Ma Hao, his mind racing. The Internet of Things branch had just been activated, while the AI branch was still dormant, but Ma Hao had already vaguely seen the direction in which the two would merge.
This is the value of talent. The technology tree provides technical skills, but insight and judgment still depend on the individual.
"Okay, you'll be fully responsible for the IoT algorithm module," Zuo Cheng said. "Don't disclose the machine learning part yet; we'll discuss it when the time is right."
"Understood." Ma Hao nodded and turned to leave.
Zuo Cheng returned to his office, closed the door, and glanced at the system panel.
All seven leaves of the Internet of Things branch are lit up, complementing the two branches representing Communication Engineering and Aerospace Communication. The integrated blade's [Intelligent Adaptive Modulation System] is also glowing, continuously operating with an efficiency boost of ×1.2.
Three branches, one fused leaf, 150 points.
He opened the leaf details and glanced at the passive effect of the Internet of Things branch. Like the Communication Engineering branch, the Internet of Things branch also comes with a passive bonus: a 30% increase in the collaborative efficiency of IoT devices.
This means that 402's IoT solution is 30% faster than its competitors from the very beginning of its design. There's no need to explain why it's faster; just demonstrate the results.
Zuo Cheng shut down the system panel and began drafting a cooperation plan for the joint laboratory. He needed to submit the plan to Professor Li within three days, sign the contract within a week, and then start recruiting.
Speed is everything. With the third phase of the Sky Dome and the Internet of Things progressing simultaneously, 402 needs more weapons and more soldiers.